“The victim was confronted by the suspects in 8th Avenue, Grassy Park, and taken to an unknown location where the rape was perpetrated. No one has been arrested yet,” Traut said.

The headmistress of the girl’s school, Grassy Park High School, Marcia Woolward, told the Cape Argus that the girl had been on her way to school.

It is understood that after being raped by the three men, the girl was dropped off near the school.

“She came into the school almost in a half-trance,” Woolward said.

Bronagh Casey, spokeswoman for Education MEC Donald Grant, reported: “At 10.30am, a member of staff found the learner at the school gate. The learner was traumatised and her lip was bleeding and her eye bruised. There were no other visible injuries.

“The school immediately phoned the police and then the school’s social worker,” Casey said.

Woolward said the girl’s family had been notified the moment the girl was found.

Grant said: “I deplore the actions of these perpetrators. I sincerely hope that the perpetrators are arrested soon, and, if found guilty, punished to the full extent of the law.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the young learner. I also thank the principal and school staff for their handling of this very sensitive situation,” Grant said.

Casey said the girl’s classmates had been assisted by a psychologist and social workers, and the school was working with the police.

“When the learner is recovered and ready, we will provide her with educational support so that she can catch up on any work that she misses during this period,” Casey said.

Traut said the abduction could have been the second within the past week. He reported that a 15-year-old was abducted on Friday, driven around all night in a red vehicle, but had not been harmed before being released.

Spokesman for the Grassy Park Community Policing Forum, Phillip Bam, said it was crucial that more be done to keep children safe on the streets, especially on their way to school.